What is
confirmation? That depends on who you
ask! Roman Catholics and Episcopalians
have a quite high view of confirmation.
The Episcopal Church doesn’t include confirmation as one of the seven
sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church (the others being baptism, Eucharist,
matrimony, anointing the sick, reconciliation [formerly called penance], and
ordination). But it has sometimes used
language like “minor sacrament.”
It became
tied to baptism as the “confirmation” of the vows made during that sacrament. Bishops performed baptisms, but as the church
spread over wide geographic distances, that practice became impractical. Bishops can’t be everywhere! As time went on, confirmation became a
completion of baptism.
The
Presbyterian Church, as well as many other denominations, believes that the
only sacraments are the ones Jesus specifically directs the church to observe:
baptism and Eucharist (holy communion, or the Lord’s Supper).
John Calvin,
in his Institutes of the
Christian Religion (4.19.13), emphasizes confirmation as teaching a
catechism—but definitely not as a sacrament:
“How I wish that we
might have kept the custom which, as I have said, existed among the ancient
Christians… Not that it would be
confirmation as they fancy, which cannot be named without doing injustice to
baptism; but a catechizing, in
which children or those near adolescence would give an account of their faith
before the church…
“If this
discipline were in effect today, it would certainly arouse some slothful
parents, who carelessly neglect the instruction of their children as a matter
of no concern to them.” (Yikes!) Hey John, why don’t you tell us how you really feel?
Calvin is
pretty blunt on the matter, but at least the spirit of his language remains
intact today. Confirmation is seen as a
time of teaching the faith (well, at least, a general outline) and as a time
for the confirmands to bear witness to the faith. A resource published by the Presbyterian
Church (USA), Professing Our Faith—A
Confirmation Curriculum, has this description:
“Because
his or her family said ‘Yes’ to God on behalf of the child, this young person’s
life has been different. Saying yes to
God means saying no to other things. During this time of confirmation instruction, your
students have the opportunity to understand more fully the church’s faith and
then to declare that it is also what they believe. They will stand before the congregation on
their own and say ‘Yes’ to the baptismal promise that they are indeed Christ’s
own forever.”
Congregations have various ways of
going about this.
The
practice (or perhaps “almost sacrament”?) of confirmation retains the tie
between teaching and baptism. Baptism is
a complete act, in and by itself. It is
only done once, provided it is a Trinitarian baptism (in the name of Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit). Confirmation is a
supplemental but valuable act.
It’s not a
question of being “one and done.” Confirmation
is not the end; it’s a new beginning. It’s
not about the joke of bats living in the church and people coming up with
various proposals for getting rid of them—none of which worked. But then one day, everyone saw that the bats
were gone. They asked the pastor if he
knew anything about it. “Yes,” he said, “I
confirmed all of them, and I figured I would never see them again.”
A
reaffirmation, a confirmation, of those questions asked at baptism says it all. To the parents: “Relying on God’s grace, do
you promise to live the Christian faith, and to teach that faith to your child?” And to the congregation: “Do you, as members
of the church of Jesus Christ, promise to guide and nurture [the children] by
word and deed, with love and prayer, encouraging them to know and follow Christ
and to be faithful members of his church?”
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